Starting as a module manufacturer, Hon Hai now is the world’s biggest electronics manufacturer, counting Apple Inc as its top client.

Horng said it is true that 3D printing is not new, as the technique has been evolving.

“Additive manufacturing technology is maturing. It can make products with quality approaching to that made by subtractive technology and it [additive technology] is nearing its commercial use,” Horng said.

The technology is suitable for making small-volume niche parts, rather than as a substitute for the traditional module manufacturing technique, that has long been used to make large volumes of components, he said.

In subtractive manufacturing, products are made by removing materials.

In the initial stage, 3D printers were used to make plastic prototypes, but the technique is now being used to make the actual metal parts, Horng said.

That has greatly boosted the commercial use of 3D printing technology, he said.

Yulong Motor Co (裕隆汽車) has used 3D printing techniques to create a prototype of an engine for its Luxgen-brand motors to reduce marketing time, abandoning traditional modeling, which is time-consuming and expensive.

TYC Brother Industrial Co (堤維西) plans to make automotive front lights using 3D printing technology licensed from ITRI, according to the Ministry of Economic Affairs.